TOUCH FOOTBALL
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Opportunities for women’s representative sport can be few and far between under the Maitland banner.
In the last few years alone, the city’s top flight senior teams in basketball, football and hockey have fallen by the wayside.
But the Redbacks, from Maitland Touch Association, continue to fly the flag in this department and the next three days are no exception.
The Redbacks will send women’s open, women’s 30s and senior mixed touch football teams to the State Cup in Port Macquarie.
This is part of a rebuilding phase at the club, from seniors down to juniors, according to Redbacks president Melinda Walls.
“We are establishing more female numbers at the moment,” Walls said.
“We don’t quite have as many as we used to, but we are starting in the juniors and building up.
“This year will be the first time in a long time that Maitland has an under-14 girls’ team.”
And while juniors may not be participating at State Cup this weekend, Walls said they are the future of the club.
This is why younger players are being introduced to the women’s open side for the upcoming competition.
“The women’s open team range in age from 15 to 36,” Walls said.
“We see it more of a development team because there is such a broad range of ages.
“Some of the ladies have dropped back from 30s to help develop the younger players.”
This includes Walls, who will coach and play in the women’s open team, as well as Tania Jackson and Chantal Tanna.
The squad has been strengthened by the inclusion of Kathleen Maier, who stayed at Maitland despite an offer to play with Wallsend, and the return of Courtney Marsh.
In the women’s 30s, the Redbacks will attempt to build upon the momentum they gained from winning the Hunter Western Regional Championships held in Maitland in October.
Julie Robinson will once again lead the way for Maitland after being selected in the Hornets women’s 40s squad to represent Hunter Western at the National Touch League in March next year.
Leah Cambourne, a teammate of Robinson in the Maitland women’s 30s, will also be buoyed by her inclusion in the Hornets women’s 27s squad for the 2013 Australia-wide tournament.
And in Maitland’s senior mixed outfit for State Cup the Redbacks welcome back a few husband and wife pairings, including Rochelle and Damien Dooley, with a new look line-up from their 2011 Regional Championship triumph.
Hornets 45s representative Scott Withers will also be part of the Maitland senior mixed squad.
The Redbacks will send a total of five teams to the NSW Touch Association competition, with men’s open and men’s 30s also making the trek north.
Across town and the familiar blue and yellow colours of the Beresfield Bandits will be worn in four divisions of the 2012 State Cup.
The three-time defending champion Bandits, the women’s 40s, will once again be hard to beat while Beresfield will also feature in the men’s 20s, men’s 50s and open mixed sections.
The annual tournament attracts more than 3000 players from across NSW to the Mid North Coast town.
Competition starts tomorrow and finals will be held on Sunday.